Coffee is brewed by placing water into contact with ground, roasted coffee. Optimal flavor is a result of the water, temperature, time and pressure used. Coffee beans typically contain approximately 600 chemical compounds, a high percentage of which result in bitter and poor tasting coffee. These undesirable compounds are normally released into brewed coffee when the water remains in contact with the ground coffee beans for relatively long durations.
Numerous methods of brewing coffee exist to generate optimal flavors. The simplest form of preparing coffee is to boil coffee grounds using hot water. Generally, the brewed coffee rises to the top while the coffee grounds sink to the bottom of the cup. In a process known as “steeping”, coffee grounds are placed in pre-heated water and left there for a few minutes. It is important to add coffee grounds quickly after grinding. For small amounts of coffee, two or three minute steep times would be appropriate. For larger quantities, four minutes is typically sufficient. A plunger is pushed down allowing the steeped coffee to enter the serving chamber while a filter retains the grounds.
In espressos or other similarly related drinks, pressure is used to brew the coffee grounds. Drip brewing produces coffee by allowing hot water to drip over coffee grounds held in by a coffee filter surrounded by a brew basket. Strength of the coffee varies according to the ratio of water to coffee grounds used.
When brewing coffee, water is poured into a filter basket/container and travels through the coffee grounds as fast as gravity will allow. There is no universal tool or device that collects, manages and distributes the water flow in an efficient manner. Some of the causes and impacts include coffee maker design, the flow of water into the coffee filter basket is inconsistent due to various, types of water distribution nozzles, inconsistent distribution of water jeopardizes the ‘equal saturation’ of all, coffee grounds, and the percolating process is impacted.
A flaw in the coffee brewing process prevents “the best possible” coffee from being consistently made as neither the proper water, temperature, time and pressure is used. This flaw impacts all the flavor and aroma profiles of brewed coffee, and wastes money. A need therefore exists for a coffee brewing method that helps to eliminate the rapid gravity flow of water through the coffee grounds and distributes the water evenly and consistently over the coffee grounds.